iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21h

It is Thursday once again! Which means it's time for the The Search for Planet 9, my radio show, coming up at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET! Get ready for some fun electronica, and some fundraising as we try to keep the station going: 1190.radio

Graphic that reads: The Search for Planet 9, 1 pm MT on Thursdays. Listen at 1190.radio

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21h

Everyone needs to remember skull asteroid!!!

Radar image of skull asteroid 2015 TB145. Looks remarkably like a skull

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21h

I did show my students the spoopy sun today

The Sun but it looks like a jack-o'-lantern

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21h

oh shit I forgot about the skull asteroid!!!!

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 28/09/2026

Trying to cook up an explainer for myself but I'm not good enough at dynamics. Is this anything

Stonks meme with Titan but it's labeled semi-major axis

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 28/09/2026

I love how every year at least one paper comes out with a completely new way to explain the differences in Saturn's mid-sized moons, and everyone just has to go

Guy throwing up his hands saying "I guess!"

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 28/09/2026

Working on my Mars slides for class, which means it's time to bring back my favorite slide I've ever made:

The "we're so back/it's so over meme" that has been edited so the x-axis is time from 1960 through 2040. The plot oscillates semi-sinusoidally between positive (we're so back) and negative (it's so over). It's labeled Mars Exploration Timeline.

The start of the timeline is small oscillations close to zero. These are labeled: first Soviet attempts (note: none of the Soviet attempts worked but they sure tried). The steep positive peak next to it, we're back, is labeled Viking landers. Then a massive negative, it's so over, is labeled: everyone crashes in the 90s. Look up Mars exploration to learn more about this. Then an even larger positive spike, we're so back, is for Curiosity and the other Mars rovers. Then a positive/negative combined spike is labeled Mars 2020 (for various reasons). Then a last negative, it's over (real) is labeled Mars Sample Return. This is accurate.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 26/09/2026

I was seconds away from showing off pictures of my brother's cats before they stopped me to explain. Alas, I didn't get that job, so maybe I should've shown the cats off anyway.

Kota, a beautiful long-haired black cat with a lighter under-fur. He is exceedingly majestic.

Fio, a short-haired orange cat. He is not majestic but god I love him.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/09/2026

I'm something of a Mimas image enthusiast myself

Mimas mostly in shadow, but with Herschel fully illuminated

The far side of Mimas that no one ever shows!! It's all craters, so that's probably why. But the craters are very nice.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/09/2026

I'm obviously biased because I study Mimas (and Herschel specifically), but this little moon really is incredibly interesting and unique. There's a lot we can learn from its cratering record about whether it may actually be a "stealth" ocean world (one whose ocean seems missing at first glance).

Cassini's two highest-resolution views from its 13 February 2010 flyby of Mimas caught the southern half of the crater Herschel and an area to its east. This view is composed of two clear-filter images taken from the raw JPEG website. They were rotated to put north up and their levels adjusted to make the coloration fairly continuous. The interior of Herschel is covered in what appears to be post-formation modification. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla

Another Cassini image, this one from farther away in 2005. Herschel lies on the terminator of Mimas in this image, keeping the entire crater floor in shadow with the exception of the central peak. The overall effect is mildly menacing.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 24/09/2026

The Search for Planet 9 is BACK this week in about an hour, with a selection of hardcore EDM to help lighten your afternoon workload. I'm very happy to be back in the radio station! Tune in here at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET: 1190.radio

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 22/09/2026

Got my hopes up, only to find the actual response to be “we’ve carefully decided that we will change nothing” lmao

We acknowledge that the community has a range of perspectives on the conference location. We have carefully considered the feedback we’ve received, including preferences for holding LPSC outside Texas and support for keeping it in The Woodlands. LPSC will continue to offer virtual participation, allowing all community members to attend this important scientific conference, which has been a mainstay of planetary science for 58 years.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 17/09/2026

Today, I will briefly torment my class of astronomy and aerospace engineering majors with some real geology stuff. That's right folks. It's time for The Diagram.

QAPF diagram for plutonic rocks (stands for quartz, alkali feldspar, plagioclase, feldspathoid), along with triangle diagrams for mafic/ultramafic plutonic rocks. It is.... unbelievably complex in terms of labels.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 16/09/2026

Thank you everyone. It is officially spooky season in my tiny office:

Post author wearing a spooky shirt with ghosts on it. They are also wearing skeleton earrings but the skeleton earrings don't photograph well

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 14/09/2026

How does this happen when I am actively affiliated with three different institutions? Well,

Scene from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Dee has been edited to ask "How do three academic and research institutions not have one Microsoft365 license between them?" Dennis, Mac, and Charlie scramble to answer. "They're - the economy is in shambles."

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 13/09/2026

Well folks, I did it again and ran another ultra, because I crave being above treeline at all times! It's been a rough few weeks, but spending long hours on the Continental Divide Trail yesterday and watching the aspens start to yellow reminded me that this is what it's all about.

The view from the high point of the CDT at around 13,200 ft. The rocky mountains stretch into the distance on a sunny day.

Selfie of the post author taken while on one of the many, many climbs of the course. I am somehow still incredibly stoked.

Yellow leaves on the aspens on either side of the trail climbing out of Herman Gulch, to the saddle to the east.

The view from another high point of the course, looking west. I-70 stretches out at the bottom of the frame, looking like a river. The mountains on either side have their flanks covered by evergreens and scattered with aspens just starting to turn yellow.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 10/09/2026

Live footage of me visiting the department:

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 10/09/2026

I know what you're thinking - Adeene, what happened to The Search for Planet 9, CU's best radio show that isn't actually about finding Planet 9? Well, I have a brand new time slot!! Tune in at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET on Thursday afternoons and I'll bring you the tunes once again: 1190.radio

Graphic that reads: The Search for Planet 9, 1 pm MT on Thursdays. List at 1190.radio

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 08/09/2026

Incredible to start a discussion of "maybe capitalism in space could be good" with "well, the East India Company is now considered problematic"

Screenshot of part of an article that reads: Capitalism — and a strong profit motivation — has driven enterprise for centuries. Two notable examples are the East India Company and the US transcontinental railroad, and the various tycoons who built it. In neither case, by today's standards, were the operations fair or ethical on a number of fronts. Can we do better in space?

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 07/09/2026

Occasionally a job application will have an "Other Attachments in Support of Your Application" category and every time I have to stop myself from attaching this

A meme of the "stop doing X" variety. It reads:
Stop doing impact modeling
DINOSAURS don’t know what happened, NEITHER SHOULD WE
Years of modeling yet not real-world use found for being mean to fake planets on the computer
Wanted to learn planetary structure? We had a tool for that: It was called doing seismology or making it up.
"Yes, please give me EOS of something. Please give me the rheology of it." - Statements dreamed up by evil wizards.
Look at what impact modelers have been demanding your respect for all this time, with all the computers and labs we built for them. (This is REAL data, done by REAL impact modelers):
Three pictures of models done by the post author, each labeled ????
"Hello I would like to make to Moon please."
They have played us for absolute fools

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 04/09/2026

Don't threaten me with a good time

The Master and Commander opening has been edited to read:
April - 1805
Jupiter is mater of the Solar System. Only the rocky planets stand before him. Planets are now battlefields

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 02/09/2026

This is how I make myself do anything. Spite, boredom, and just being unhinged

Interviewer: Melanie, you don't feel great now, you didn't feel great when you finished, and you were feeling dread at the beginning and worried about hypothermia. Why did you do this?

Melanie: I guess I thrive on self-loathing.

Interviewer: What were you thinking about when you were in the water all that time? How did you stay focused?

Melanie: I thought, my God, this is so boring. I just kept counting my strokes over and over until I reached peak insanity.

Interviewer: What made you decide that you wanted to do this particular stretch?

Melanie: I just think every time I've ever been on the ferry, I thought, I kind of want to jump in and swim across. And I've had a lot of people tell me that's not possible. So I think a lot of it was spite.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 31/08/2026

If you need something from me this week, please know that this is the situation:

A tumblr post by batmanisagatewaydrug that reads:

Been burning the candle at a third and possibly even fourth end lately, an advanced technique that no one talks about because it's "a bad idea"

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 31/08/2026

I have been put in (easily circumvented) Posting Jail

A pop-up that reads: Age Assurance. Hey there! You are accessing Bluesky from a region that legally requires us to verify your age before allowing you to access the app. Based on your network, we think you're in Texas.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/08/2026

Finally asking the real questions in my class this week:

A slide that has a picture of Earthrise from Artemis 2 (the Earth rising beyond the limb of the Moon) and text that reads: Okay, but... followed by, in giant hot pink Barbie font: Why are we doing all this?

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 24/08/2026

Described a paper as a "what if an egg did a crime" paper in a meeting today, which to me is very descriptive, but I failed to realize that not everyone is terminally online

A tweet by Beth McColl (@imbethmccoll) that reads: I know it's tempting to be like "what if this alluring but frustrating person transforms their behaviour and gives me exactly what I want! what if then!" yeah what if an egg did a crime? what if the moon put a little shoe on? "what if" is not currency you can spend

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 22/08/2026

My 24 hours in Tucson are over, but I got some GREAT trail running in before heading to the airport:

The view of Tucson at dawn from halfway up Sabino Canyon

Looking up Sabino Canyon towards the Catalinas in the distance, just after sunrise

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21/08/2026

Ries is a really cool crater, and totally worth a visit!

A person holding up a geologic map of Ries crater while standing on a small portion of the crater rim. Another person is pointing to part of the crater.

A section of the Ries crater strata, including the famous bunte (colorful) breccia.

A stylized mural of the Ries crater with the town at its center.

Map from part of the geopark that shows part of the local area and a time series of the excavation of the crater.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21/08/2026

Watching orbital dynamics talks like:

Pop Team Epic panel. A young girl is nodding as she says "Ah, so it's like that, huh. I understand everything now." An arrow pointing to her reads: Doesn't get it at all

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 21/08/2026

I get to spend 24 hours in the greatest city in the world (Tucson, AZ) 😊

Tucson’s greatest mural of two whales swimming through the sky above the Catalina mountains at sunset, with beautiful pink clouds

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 18/08/2026

My radio show, The Search for Planet 9, is back again this week at 9 am PT/12 pm ET, and I've got some of the highest-quality Croatian pop from 1994-2001 to help pump up your Tuesday! Listen here: 1190.radio

A graph that has the plot of the orbit of the hypothesized Planet Nine in orange across the from the orbits of a few other Kuiper belt objects, including Sedna. Text reads: The Search for Planet 9, KVCU 1190 AM, 1190.com. These are the two ways you can listen to the show: first if you're located inside/around Boulder and online if you're not.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 07/08/2026

I could be an absolute menace at conferences with this

Edited the meme to say: now that's what I call chondrules, front of a space-like background.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 06/08/2026

How do I tell my students that the graphics I make for class aren't AI and just look Like This because I have terrible taste and make bad graphics for the love of the game

A slide that says: Let's talk Solar System formation. The words Solar System formation are in all caps metallic red and blue font on top of a background of purple clouds. I don't know why I did it like this

A slide with the title Solar System Quick-Start in all caps metallic hot pink font. The slide itself is mostly normal, with a picture of a proto-planetary disk from ALMA. The text reads:

1. A nebula collapses into a proto-planetary disk

2. Particles condense out of the gas in the disk

3. Collisions between particles start to accrete planetesimals

4. ????

5. Planets end up in their current locations 👍

A slide with a picture of Vesta and the words: What makes planetary bodies so shaped? The text is in hot pink barbie font

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 06/08/2026

Woke up the middle of the night and couldn’t remember the word “stromatolite”

List of google searches (mostly fruitless):
Sharks bay Australia
Australia beach microbiome
Circular microbial colony Australia
Circular microbial colony
Circular microbial colony Bahamas
Bahamas microbial growth

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 05/08/2026

I'm tired of being angry about AI, so everyone say Happy Birthday to the Curiosity Rover 💗 14 years of Mars science!

A butte, nicknamed "Miraflores," in a valley on Mars, as imaged by NASA's Curiosity rover. NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas at two times of day on April 8, 2023. The panoramas were captured at 9:20 a.m. and 3:40 p.m. local Mars time, then merged together. Color was added for an artistic interpretation of the scene, with blue representing the morning panorama and yellow representing the afternoon one. NASA released the resulting image on June 13, 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover took this 360-degree selfie using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, at the end of its robotic arm. The selfie comprises 81 individual images taken on Nov. 20, 2021 – the 3,303rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 04/08/2026

It's Tuesday once again, which means my radio show, The Search for Planet 9, is back at 9 am PT/12 pm ET with some indie chill to get you through the workday. Listen here: 1190.radio

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 03/08/2026

Some days the only thing I can do to face The Horrors is wear a really cool shirt. It doesn't fix anything but it sure is cool

Picture of the post author grinning and wearing a short-sleeved button-down shirt covered in a pattern of whales and narwhales against a starry, moon-filled sky. This is a good time to remember that the post author's handle is spacewhalerider.

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 31/07/2026

Did you know that one of the peak-ring basins on Venus is named Mona Lisa, after the painting? It's really nice-looking as a crater, too 🙂

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 31/07/2026

Chicxulub is a good example, though since it's buried you have to look in gravity data:

Gravity anomaly map of the Chicxulub impact structure showing traces of various morphological features of the buried crater (dashed lines), location of Hole M0077A, and sinkholes (cenotes) (white dots), and present-day coastline (solid white line). After Morgan et al. (2016) and Gulick et al. (2013)

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 30/07/2026

Really excited to be a part of the team of experts for Dances with Robots Season 2, a podcast about the intersection of arts, science, technology, and space exploration. Our first episode is out now: danceswithrobots.org/podcast2

Two large planet-like spheres with pink and yellow swirled surfaces sit on either side of a flat black plane. Overlaid across the middle is a colorful illustrated humanoid robot in a reclining, dance-like pose, rendered in pink, yellow, and blue with visible mechanical joints and a helmeted head. Image by Kevin Ju

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 28/07/2026

My radio show, The Search for Planet 9, is back again this week at 9 am PT/12 pm ET bringing you a dose of high-energy indie pop to help you enjoy the later days of summer! Listen here: 1190.radio

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 28/07/2026

Went to go see that Greek myth adaptation everyone’s been talking about

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/07/2026

Teaching again this fall, you know what that means. Back to the graphic design mines

A picture of the Moon. Text reads: Our friend The Moon. The last two words are in massive hot pink barbie font

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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 24/07/2026

Phone reminding me that my most recent search is an accurate indicator of my mood:

A screenshot of an iPhone home screen that has recent searches up. The most recent search is: AaaasaaaaaaaaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAa

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